The Edmond Auto 3D

From Mathey-Tissot

Courtesy of Mathey-Tissot

Mathey-Tissot is really not as known here in the lower 48 as it should be. I am making it my mission to change that ; )

The Edmond Auto 3D is, well, green! And that hits a visceral nerve for me.

Courtesy of Mathey-Tissot

The case is of stainless steel with a rose gold finish and measures 42 mm in diameter. The movement is self-winding (automatic).

Here are the pertinents -

• Gender: Men
• Movement Type: Automatic
• Movement Name: Landeron 24
• Movement Function: -Date-
• Case Diameter: 42 mm
• Case Material: Stainless Steel 316L
• Case Color: Rose Gold plated
• Glass: Dome Antireflex Sapphire Coated
• Backplate: Sapphire Coated
• Crown: Push / Pull
• Water Resistance: 5 ATM
• Bezel Type: Fixed
• Bezel Colour: Rose Gold plated
• Thickness: 13 mm
• Dial Colour: Green
• Markers: Index and Arabic numbers
• Lug to lug: 20 mm
• Bracelet Material: Genuine Leather
• Bracelet Colour: Green 

 

The M36 Armistice Day Limited Edition

From Vertex -

Courtesy of Vertex

This dial variation, if I have read the press release correctly, will be limited to 9 pieces total, with all proceeds going to the Royal British Legion.

Here are the pertinents -

Technical specifications

Case:
36mm Solid Bronze alloy case
Screw in lug bars
Water resistant to 100m

Crystal:
Box crystal double domed and anti reflective

Dial:
Molded X1 Super-LumiNova dial

Movement:
Sellita SW260-1 top execution movement with Nivarox anti-magnetic hairspring

Crown:
Screw in crown

Warranty:

5 year warranty

Strap:
Leather 

Packaging:
Custom tactical case with Vertex M36 Velcro patch

Swiss made.

PRICE:
RRP: £2,350 inc VAT

Here are the pertinents -

The Cortina 1956 - Refreshingly Cool

This is one of the latest offerings from the team at Echo Neutra -

Courtesy of Echo Neutra

It is the latest iteration of the Cortina collection. A time-only model with a white dial and white bezel insert. 

The case is of stainless steel and measures 40 mm in diameter. The movement is Sellita's SW200-1 providing hours, minutes, and seconds.

It is priced at a very attractive $750

Available direct from Echo Nuetra

Here are the pertinents -

→ DIAMETER: 40mm
→ THICKNESS: 11.9mm
→ LUG2LUG: 46mm
→ CROWN: Screw-down type
→ CRYSTAL: Box-shaped Sapphire glass
→ MOVEMENT: Sellita SW200-1 automatic elaboré
→ BEZEL: Sapphire fixed bezel
→ STRAPS: 2 X Straps included
→ WR: 100m
→ SWISS MADE

 

The White Classic Automatic

From Holgar -

Courtesy of Holgar

We'll be diving into this new brand in greater depth soon, but for now, here are the pertinents for this model -

Technical Specs:

• 44mm Steel Case 904L
• Sapphire crystal front and back
• Swiss Automatic movement. Sellita SW200
• Strap: Brown leather with croco strap
• Dial: White with blue hands
• Water Resistant 100 meters

Suggested retail - $1,695

I Don't Always Enjoy Being Right

And for the record, I do not live under any illusions that I am always right.  Some of my high school teachers would have been shocked by even a 25% ratio for correct notions.  But today, while noodling around on some watch brand websites both mighty and wee, I came across this interesting tidbit of information -

15. February 2020

ochs und junior is moving to a new home 

We are happy to announce that this coming April we will be opening a new ochs und junior workshop in La Chaux-de-Fonds, in the Jura mountains. We will be located in the historic district of this ancient center of the Swiss watchmaking industry, since 2009 a UNESCO World Heritage site. The collaboration with our partners in the German-speaking part of Switzerland will continue, and our new manufacturing, purchase, and service offers remain continuously guaranteed. Images and background story will be provided in a later post.

We are looking forward to welcoming you soon to this historic and unique town at the center of the Swiss watchmaking industry!

Okay, so what I am about to say is in no way meant to be hurtful, offensive or snide.  
But honest - have you ever tried to visit La Chaux-de-Fonds?  I want to be clear, I am not trying to say it is exactly "land's end" but it is not what I would call "conveniently located" either.  Traveling via rail, the best travel times you will achieve are:

Zurich:  2 hours 10 minutes

Geneva: 1 hour 42 minutes

Lucerne: 2 hours 23 minutes

(You know, just in case you did not get the update about the company moving and had to now hot-foot it to pick up your watch before they closed)

Think you're going to simply pop into some watch brands for a look-see to make the trip to La Chaux-de-Fonds worth your while?  Guess again.  Even if you are rolling with Watch Media Outlet X, arrangements have to be made, and chances are good that you will be (at best) challenged) to get in.

And while La Chaux-de-Fonds is a Unesco Heritage Site (along with its sister city, Le Locle), it is not exactly what I would call a "happening" place.  I think my point is, if you were really trying to maintain the ethos of ochs und junior, this is perhaps one of the least likely places you would have picked.  Because for all of their posturing, and let's be honest, there was a fair bit, when you stripped away all of the hyperbole, the one thing that ochs und junior were pretty forthright about was that they were not making much of anything on site.  In other words, they had partners.  And as some know, for a very brief time (a little over a year) I collaborated with Beat Weinmann as a "counter-puncher" or someone to "spar with" over ideas, communication, etc.  In essence, to offer up the contrary opinion.  While I continued to stay in Lucerne during subsequent BaselWorld visits, I only visited the ochs storefront a few more times.  And at least at that time, while there were watch makers employed by ochs und junior, their activities (as far as I understood it) took place in workshops off site.  To be clear, they were, absolutely, assembling the watches.  The cases were made (at that time) by Peter Cantieni and I suspect maybe still will be, but you never know.  The movements were ETA (now UN supplies them).  Hands, crystals, crowns, dials, essentially everything else was created by trusted partners.  And fair play to ochs und junior, they identified their partners clearly on their site -

https://www.ochsundjunior.swiss/about/partners/

But when news first broke late last year that the entire crew had resigned (and a lot of that is still unclear, and subject to interpretation), what was clear was that by "force leaking" the information in the manner that he did, Mr. Weinmann had drawn a line in the sand that would (and let's be honest, will) make it very challenging for him to come back to the business side of watch making.  Typically the head of a brand takes the hit, has the fall, goes home to lick their wounds, then re-emerges later in a new, sometimes better role.  Some learn from the experience, many do not.  But Beat Weinmann was always a bit of a different type of dude who absolutely marched to his own drum beat, and I would say that, more than any other reason, was why we were friends for a brief while, and continued to be friendly for a short while after that.  

So in a Forest Gump sorta' way, I feel that I was there for a few key events in the "mid-story" section, and watched from afar for awhile after.  I do remember well when the cord was cut, and Beat left Embassy to make ochs und junior a full-time proposition, and he moved into the location they have been in for the past 8 years -

https://www.ochsundjunior.swiss/open-offen/

It was exciting to see.  And even as I moved on to pursue other things, it was always interesting to follow the happenings via the blog or the news section.  The news and blog became less frequent, and if I am honest I had pretty much turned my attention elsewhere until this past November -

http://www.tempusfugit.watch/2019/12/the-transfer-window-has-opened.html

So, as I prepare to embrace a cold New England morning this day after Valentines, I want to re-heat my theory about what is next.

Consolidation 
Things are not great in the watch business. Moreover, they do not show signs of improving in the near future. Ulysse Nardin, and therefore Kering, essentially own ochs und junior. There really isn't much other way to put it. Yes, Ludwig Oechslin's name might be on the "deed" but the checks are being signed in Le Locle. And, not-so-coincidentally, the CEO of Ulysse Nardin also just so happens to be the CEO of Girard-Perregaux -
Patrick Pruniaux, which by strange coincidence is located in... La Chaux-de-Fonds.

The Thing About the Old Days
The curious thing about getting older, time (or at least your perception of it) seems to hyper accelerate once you hit your 40s.  

Courtesy of The Wire

While 2012 is a full 8 years ago, it still seems somewhat recent to me.  ochs und junior were more of an ongoing project that, if I am not mistaken, were funded primarily by the owner (at that time) of Embassy jewelers in Lucerne.  Up until 2010 they were really more of a very expensive piece that was not really selling much.  These were pieces that were priced at the level of starter homes in Southern Ohio.  They were not exactly inexpensive.  But between 2010 and I would say 2017, they managed to catch some lightning in a bottle and they steadily grew in notoriety.  It is not a coincidence that this time period was also marked by UN's increasing financial involvement.  And my fellow pundits in the Fourth and Fifth Estate have a tendency to gloss over this not so insignificant fact.  While it is a nice notion that like so many other followers of "the craft", they latch onto what simple economic realities are proving to be a millennial fantasy, the  numbers don't match up.  5 employees, technically 6 if we count Dr. Oechslin, rent, materials, etc... and a reported production of, well, not so many watches, per their own statement:

ochs und junior manufactures about 130 watches per year, which enables it to offer uncompromising timepieces that do not cater to mass taste  –  simplicity instead of complication, visible machining marks instead of polishing, no logo on the dial or the case  –  and to give every customer personal sales and after-sales service directly from the CEO. We aim to grow in terms of quality, not in terms of quantity. 

Not to be snotty, or sarcastic, but do you honestly mean to tell me that with overhead for rent, materials, utilities, assembly, and, oh yeah, salaries for that many people that you are going to cover that nut with 130 pieces per year when the majority of them are priced around CHF 6,000?  And please don't try to sell me on the "we took out the middle man" notion.  ochs und junior were the middle man in many ways.  

On more than one occasion during our "strategy boxing matches" I was called "charming" and I knew at the time, and more so in hindsight it was not always intended as a compliment.  As a mediator I have a tendency to try and keep the peace while trying to help the parties discover alternative points of view.  And there are times when an individual is so enamored of their own position, that they don't tend to see that left hook coming.  And I suspect that is what finally landed on the jaw of ochs und junior three months ago.

Reality Sucks
Every great brand needs a great creation myth.  And in the case of ochs und junior, it really wasn't a myth.  The creation part anyway.  The fallacy that everyone was laboring under was the sustainability.  It is safe to say that Ludwig Oechslin was, and is perhaps one of the most creative, and therefore most important watch makers of recent times.  But it is also safe to say that without Rolf Schnyder, the rest of the world would likely have never known.  Mr. Schnyder was a unique person with unrivaled abilities in terms of sales, marketing and persuasion.  And when the two of them worked in lock-step?  They were truly unstoppable.  In many ways, Beat Weinmann had a lot of the same positive qualities of Mr. Schnyder.  He was personable (I won't say charming as I do not wish to offend), attentive to his customers, and could create a seemingly magical atmosphere.  And in many ways I feel that Beat is a bit more savvy than even Mr. Schnyder was.  But there was one thing that Mr. Schnyder had that Mr. Weinmann had not fully mastered (at least in terms of ochs und junior) and that was cash reserve (lots of it), and large scale communication.  In the long run, even if we optimistically presume 50% net per watch (pre-tax), that would be a lot of thrift to pay everyone, the rent, etc., let alone grow.  

The New New
So what's next?  Well, it is safe to say that ochs und junior, at least as we knew it, is no more.  UN and if need be, GP have plenty of folks to handle pretty much every process that had been previously handled by the ochs und junior team.  What I expect we will be seeing in the not-too-distant future will be a more discernible outreach to the media.  You need more than a twice a year posting in Hodinkee to be known.  You will likely see an outreach to retail partners.  You will either see an increase or decrease in price depending on the following criteria -

Drop prices by 20% and aggressively pursue more mainstream retail.

Raise prices by 20% and aggressively pursue more mainstream retail.

Kering with UN and if need be, GP, have everything that ochs und junior needs to make and finally market and more effectively sell watches.  But there will be changes.  The big, open shop/meeting place with vintage espresso machine (at least the one we knew and loved) is now consigned to the dust bin of history.  What this new space will be remains to be seen, and we shall see.  But I think a few things are going to change.  

And we shall all have to wait and see what is coming next, because for the moment?  Nobody's talking.

WilTell

I had done a bit of a "hit and run" with the new WilTell watch awhile back.  Since then, Eddy Burgener has made a concerted effort to get the word out about his new brand. So with the help of more info, here is a more in-depth report -

Courtesy of WilTell

The idea behind the WilTell watch is pretty 
simple - create, market and sell a SWISS watch that meets all of the Swiss Made requirements, and to do so at a very aggressive price.

But the WilTell team wanted to go further.  In their own words:

From there came up the idea of a 100% Swiss Made for its production but still had to find some tips to avoid excessive costs and manufacturing ways other than the usual manufacturing process of used in the watch industry. Approaching a different production concept but just as reliable as traditional methods. Innovate and use know-how from another area of expertise.

And from there, a new watch brand was born.

Courtesy of WilTell

The of going beyond, and providing (per the legend on their dial) a 100% Swiss made watch.

The case measures 42 mm in diameter and is of stainless steel.  The hands and outer chapter numbers are filled with lume.  

Courtesy of WilTell

The WilTell is available in 2 different dial colors (black and white) with two different "outer ring" color options - also black and white ; )

This is actually a very clever way to offer four different versions for, ostensibly, 2 different sets of parts - very, very smart planning on the part of WilTell!

While I suspect many folks will opt for the all black or the two different tuxedo versions, as is my nature I am going to go the other way, and if I were picking, I'd pick this one -

Courtesy of WilTell

And at a price of CHF 498, this is a bit special.

Here are the pertinents, straight from WilTell -

The WilTell watch is water resistant to 3 BAR (30 meters) and meet with the REACH European standards.

The high quality components of the WilTell watch are 100% produced in Switzerland

Watch case: Ø 42mm in stainless stell 316L refined , fully machined and finished with laser engraving.

Crystal: sapphire, carved and machined.

Gaskets: manufactured, turned and injected.

Casing ring: Made out of brass, machined and treated.

Dial: Painted dial and transferred on stamped brass plate.

Top Ring: synthetic, injected, treated and transferred and equipped with luminescent material. 

Hands: stamped brass, treated and fitted with luminescent material.

Crown: stainless steel 316L, stainless steel 316L tube, machined with laser engraved decoration. 

Movement: 11 1⁄2 ‘’’ automatic Sellita SW 200-1 in up graded quality.

Strap: Genuine leather, refined, cut and assembled.

Buckle: In stainless steel 316L, set on spring bar.

Presentation box: recycled cardboard, cut, printed, folded and assembled.

Yes, you read that last part correctly - the box not another heavy, see it once or twice in your life before it is banished to the basement or garage item.  It is what it should be, a simple, light weight, recyclable item used to ship the watch.  PERIOD.  Well done WilTell!

Courtesy of WilTell

The WT-1-221 WilTell

Courtesy of WilTell

Point of full disclosure, I pretty much stumbled upon this by accident.  

This is the WT-1-221 WilTell.  It is reputed (and if I understand correctly) warranted to be 100% Swiss made.  Made all the more remarkable by the price - CHF 498.00

I will be reaching out to follow-up with the folks at WilTell to get more info.

Stay tuned!

Who Really Made Your Watch?

Or the myth of origin.

This is a topic that comes up frequently (but quietly) around Switzerland, Germany and China, but curious to relate?  Not so often in the US, UK, the EU, Russia... in other words?  The countries where a lot of watches are actually bought.

Now I know what you're probably thinking -
"Of course those 'micro-brands' aren't making their own watches!"   Well, in some cases you would be absolutely correct.  Simply put, a lot of microbrands out there utilize companies that specialize in "white label" or "private label" production.  Many are what we refer to as off the shelf - meaning it is a pretty standard case and you can dress it as you like.  There is a reason why there are so many Rolex Submariner lookalikes out there.  And hey, fair enough.  People want it and will pay for it.  And beyond that, there are several firms that will offer you the opportunity to send them your own designs, and will then subcontract with a case manufacturer, dial manufacturer and assembler in (you guessed it) China.  And that is most often the situation even for firms based in, wait for it, Germany and Switzerland.

Fair enough!  You might argue that these are small independent micro brands, so who cares?  Well, get on any Facebook watch group or the dwindling number of watch forums still grinding it out, and you will find plenty of armchair experts ready to hold forth, and they DO care.  And these folks are experts because, like, they read other forums and can speak with absolute authority...

Well, I get it.  Passion is important.  And as they used to say back in the 70s and 80s as they were trying to convince us that illiteracy was not necessarily cool - RIF!  (Reading is Fundamental).  But having spent hundreds of hours moderating a brand forum (hours that I will never get back), I came to understand that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.  Why?  Half smart is the same thing as half dumb.  So as a public service announcement, I thought it might not be such a bad idea to shed a little light on the reality of who really made the watch you are wearing.

So what does it mean to "make" a watch?  Well, that again is up for interpretation, but if we look loosely at the rules, one of the basic premises is that the watch itself is assembled in the country reputed to be the one of "origin".  Well, that is pretty easy to achieve.  You can ship things here, there and everywhere.  But then the next question comes down to content origin.  And very often, that is something that is even more flexible than the ethics of several people working in the watch industry itself.  Consider that a case can be "started" somewhere else, be shipped within the "circle of trust" and be "finished" in Switzerland or Germany.  And Hallelujah!  It's a Swiss or German case!  And that is just regarding the brands that actually bother to try and at least appear to be following the rules.  And then we get to movements.  That is more often than not a critical factor in the "origin story".  I mean, a SWISS movement is a SWISS movement, right?  Well... yes and no.  It goes without saying that several movement companies have subsidiaries and subcontractors in countries where rice is more common at meal time than Rösti ; )

So chances are good, that your Swiss or German watch has a whole bunch of stuff sourced from other places.  Okay, but then surely these BIG brands have clean, pristine, SWISS or German factories where all of these disparate parts are assembled under the watchful eyes of the brand!  Well, actually, not so much.

As another great Ohioan said about the "confidence" he felt when dealing with contractors and subcontractors (attributed to John Glenn):

"I felt exactly how you would feel if you were getting ready to launch and knew you were sitting on top of 2 million parts — all built by the lowest bidder on a government contract." 

 

But suffice it to say, John Glenn made it back to Earth and NASA continued and we landed people on the moon and brought them back.  So surely using a contractor or subcontractor is not the worst thing in the world.  And perhaps the most significant (yet unheard of) part of the Swiss industry is the "assembly" sector.  Their role is pretty simple:

Brand A designs a watch.  They contact the assembler.  The assembler then subcontracts with the various component "contributors" and gets examples of cases, dials, crowns, straps and knocks together "samples".  Samples are reviewed, tweaked, and designs are finalized.  Orders are submitted (not paid for, but that is a story for another day) and once everything reaches the assembler, they are assembled.  I have been to a few of these places - NO NAMES - and I can tell you that this is not an horological urban myth.  You will see about 10 - 30 different brands being assembled side by side.  Well known brands that you have heard of.  And I can also tell you that very large as well as very small brands use them.  Even brands that are owned by larger groups.  Ever wonder why you never see journalists waxing lyrical about their visits to various brand factories?  Well as Anthony Bourdain once said:
"Can't believe it's not butter?  Well I can!".   Pals and gals, let's be real here for a moment, if a brand will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on ambassadors, advertising, and press junkets to watch God knows what, you think that they wouldn't show you a factory if they had one?  Yes, just like when you heard that the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and Santa were, in fact, your parents, I am sorry to harsh your mellow.

So there it is.  And if you think I'm wrong, let me ask you a pretty simple question -
Assuming that a Swiss brand's watch is, in fact, made in Switzerland, how do you think that this might be economically possible?  Let me give you a "for instance".  Ever buy a cup of coffee in Switzerland?  Buy lunch?  Pay rent in Switzerland?  Putting it simply, it is not an inexpensive place to live.  Now let me ask the question in a different way - do you think it is more expensive to make coffee, or to make a watch?  This is more of a way of asking this - how is it possible that a company can afford to make watches that they put a suggested retail price of $1,000?  Let's drill down further - consider that at an SRP of $1,000 in most cases the watch was produced and sold to a distributor for 1/3 of that amount.  Now think about that for a minute.  That means that they sold it for 33.3% or $333 of the retail and were still MAKING MONEY on that deal.  Okay, so let's say that means that, ideally, they are making at least 75% of that 33.3% (i.e. 25% labor and cost) - meaning about $250.  So that means that it cost the company $83 (more or less) to make that watch.  Again, nothing wrong with that, but it is pretty simple economics.  There is no way that watch was "made in Switzerland", regardless of the semantics in use.  

So what if?

What if a company, regardless of whether they were big or small, made a watch where they told you exactly where everything came from?  Although he can be a bit of a pill and a celebrity chaser, Beat Weinmann has embraced this concept and he and ochs und junior produce a watch that can be sourced down to the last detail, and they are to be commended for it.  But you will pay a price for this, and I think it is a fair one, but let's just say it is a wee bit north of that $1,000 we were bandying about in our earlier model.

And therefore I am wondering, is there a way to offer a REALLY good mechanical watch - nothing earth shattering, but solid, reliable, good looking and comfortable, and do it for a price that normal people could afford without going into unrealistically aspirational credit card debt?  And that you could do it while clearly labeling the source of origin?

Well, stay tuned!
 
 

When You Push A Gag Too Far... Part Deux

Okay, I will start out by saying that yes, the video that was created by the folks at Moser was funny, you can find the link at the bottom of this post.

Having said that, I can honestly say without fear that I will change my opinion, that this is a watch that is so unpleasant to look at that it hurts my feelings.

Courtesy of H. Moser & Cie.

I appreciate humor.  I absolutely appreciate making a statement.  But with this latest splash of bravado, I start to understand what Gertrude Stein meant when she wrote of Oakland -
...but not there, there is no there there

I suspect that some of you are waiting for me to get to the damn point, so here it is -
More and more I wonder are the cinematic efforts of H. Moser an attempt to REALLY communicate brand identity and values?  There is a time for bravado, and there is a time for restraint.  On the one hand the message is we are extremely rare and wonderful.  That is a great message by the way.  But there is one problem - in the same message they say that not only are they rare and wonderful but please check out our latest partnership.  Oh, and we're irreverent!  Oh, and edgy too, don't forget edgy!  Oh, and did we mention that we are also very rare...

Rare and wonderful?  Then show me the watch makers, show me the production, show me the real care and attention that I am absolutely certain they pay to their product.  If your message is about the watch, then talk about the watch.  Cool it with the gimmicks and gags.  Because more and more what it comes to look like is the boss writing large checks to feed his ego and make fun videos.

And while other brands are struggling to pay the milk bill,  it is a wonderful luxury to have the funds to create an ego trip that tells the time.  But it also shows that the brain trust at H. Moser are failing to heed one of Barry Hearn's rules (as adopted to the watch industry) - Keep your heart and your wallet in different places.



Let me close with this - while I write about this stuff, I am clearly not in H. Moser & Cie's demographic, and that is okay.  The fact that it is not my particular demitasse of espresso, I understand that it might turn your crank.  So if you're so inclined, here are the pertinents -
  
TECHNICAL FEATURES

SWISS MAD WATCH
Reference 8327
Reference 8327-1400 model made with Swiss cheese, red fumé dial, Swiss cowhide leather strap, unique piece

Case
Cheese integrated with itr 2 © composite material
Diameter: 42.0 mm
height: 9.4 mm
Sapphire crystal 
See through sapphire crystal caseback
Crown adorned with an “M”

Dial
Red fumé with sunburst pattern
White lacquered applique indexes and hour and minute hands in the shape of a swallow's tail

Movement
In-house, hand-wound, mechanical HMC 327 calibre
Dimensions: 32.0 mm or 14 ¼ lignes, height: 4.5 mm
Frequency: 18,000 Vib/h
29 jewels
Power reserve: minimum 3 days
Moser teeth for all wheels and pinions
Original Straumann Hairspring® with stabilised Breguet overcoil 

Functions
Hours and minutes
Power reserve indicator on movement side

Strap
Hand-stitched cowhide leather strap
Steel pin buckle, engraved with the Moser logo

Made By...

So an interesting discussion on Facebook regarding the legitimacy of putting Swiss Made on the dial of a watch when only a percentage is required to actually be, well, Swiss.

Now what I find fascinating in all of this is the "dog chasing its tale" picture that this paints for me:

1.  Watch company says - you should buy our watches, they are SWISS made which is, of course, the best!

2.  Well, we'd like to show you our facilities, but they are (of course) top secret!

3.  As you can see we are a true manufacture because we make our own movements right here!

4.  Well, no, we don't make our cases, dials, hands, crystals… we buy those from specialist suppliers…

5.  Well, no, we don't actually case (read assemble) the watches here.  It makes more sense for us to use an "assembling" company.

6.  We don't actually have production facilities "here", assembly is handled "elsewhere" - i.e. I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you ; )


So what does all of this really mean?

Well, I don't think that this is a "stop the press" news flash, but let's say that an unhealthy percentage of watch "brands" don't actually make watches.  So what exactly do they do?

Glad you asked!  Very often the "Brand" is some administrative offices that house sales, marketing, PR, Accounts Receivable, meeting room and the boss's office.  And POSSIBLY some storage for assembled watches before they get shipped.

So where are the other watches?  You mean apart from the "company watches" on the wrists of the employees there or the ones already put together awaiting dispatch to their distribution points?

Ah - this is the wonderfully elaborate shell game known as "Private Label".  Now what we would REASONABLY consider "private label" would mean that you are making a special watch for your company employees (Mercedes Benz did this back in 2002/2003 by making a manual winding alarm watch for their North American sales staff).  Okay, that makes sense.  A company orders a watch for its company, I get it.  Well, take that idea and feed it steroids and suddenly you become a "manufacturer for brands".

Okay you say to yourself, these private label companies must have ENORMOUS factories producing all of these watches.  Guess again.  Think of the "private label" company just like that brand that we were talking about earlier.  Administration offices.  And not coincidentally, "offices" in the "Far East".  While I am not an expert, I am fairly certain that Hong Kong is not a Swiss Canton.  Okay, so where do they "make" the watches?  Refer to point #6.

Think of the "private label" company as a general contractor.  Not unlike the folks who are putting your house together, they do the Swiss equivalent of driving down to the Home Depot to find the various parts, and then farm them out to the actual "assemblers" that bring it in for the best (i.e. lowest) price.

So, you go to your retail store to buy a brand "X" watch that was designed by a contracted designer.  The design was then sent to the private label company, who then farmed it out the various suppliers and assemblers and with a healthy dose of magic Swiss "pixie dust", the exclusive brand "X" watch is born.

One watch with hundreds of parents - It truly takes a village ; )

60% = SWISS MADE?

Okay, I want to start out by saying that I appreciate that it is a global economy.  Things have changed.

We want watches, we want new watches, and we want them to be priced at a point that we can live with.  Oh, and by the way, they must be SWISS made, because apparently everything else is junk.

Now let's talk about SWISS made and what that really means - 60%???

60% of the value must be Swiss - 60%?   That is a little bit like saying that 60% of milk must come from a cow for it to be "milk".  It is splitting hairs on a a profoundly goofy level.  

Do you REALLY think that you could buy a 100% "down-home" made in Switzerland watch for $700 US?  In a country with a very high standard of living, where a "reasonable" lunch is going to cost you 15 - 25 francs, do you REALLY think that a Swiss company can afford to make and sell that watch for $175 completely within the borders of Switzerland?   

"Wait a minute" you say, "you said $700, didn't you?"  Well yes I did, but that is the suggested retail price. Consider that a retail store sells the watch for $700 (hopefully).  The retail store bought the watch for $350 - i.e. their margin is 50% of the total value.

And then reduce that number again - because don't forget the distributor, or in some instances the brand's regional manager, the marketing costs, service, etc. - $175 is a safe number.  

Now this is not exactly "ground-breaking" information.  Most people can figure out these figures.  Moreover, this is not unique to the watch industry.  But back to "provenance" - consider the car industry, most particularly consider the HIGH end auto sector.  Think your BMW was made in Bavaria?  In terms of design, vision (and maybe even performance) sure.  In terms of where the components were made, and where said components were assembled - it's no more Bavarian that I am.  And for the record, I am NOT Bavarian, or even German ; )  And yet, we don't tend to question the quality and VALUE of a BMW or Porsche.  Why should the watch industry be different?

Back in the mid to late 90s, a certain German auto company assembled a portion of their sports car in a factory in western Finland.  And it's worth mentioning that the SAME factory assembled Ladas ; )

In fairness, I've worked in the industry.  I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly.  If you want  a 100% made in Switzerland watch, you don't necessarily have to consider a second mortgage, but you will not be able to buy one or more watches a year like you maybe do now.

So for me, the 60% is truly neither here nor there.  Quality is quality.  But as always, I encourage you to draw what conclusions you will.

Is it Local? Some Thoughts on Origin and Pricing

First, have a look at this -


If the image doesn't load - use this link:
http://www.ifc.com/videos/portlandia-is-it-local

Video is courtesy of IFC - the series is PORTLANDIA.

So now hopefully you're all feeling light-hearted and enjoyed a good laugh.

But I also suspect that many of us (yes me included) have had the same feelings about watches.  Where are they made?  Are they REALLY all SWISS, GERMAN, etc.?  By now it is known to anyone who really takes the time to do their homework that the notion of 100% SWISS made is becoming a very challenging notion.  The "SWISS MADE" parameters allow plenty of room to maneuver, and considering that we live in a global economy - fair enough.

We tend to vote with our wallets.  I don't get the sense that VW loses too many sales because a Jetta is NOT assembled in Germany.

But what I find fascinating is that when a company goes out of their way to source locally wherever possible, to be transparent about origin - and to charge accordingly - not outrageously - we cry foul.   We criticize, we complain, we try to find fault.  We say "there's no way it should cost that much!  I'm going to go buy a ____.    It's much better value!  These people are crooks, they're just out to make money!"  And it's that last line that always has me shaking my head.  Because we are fans, because we love watches, we feel that the people making our watches should be in it for love - apparently not for money.

So if we all went by that notion, we would agree to a 30% (standard expectation for discount when buying a watch here in North America) wage reduction because, in fact, that's what our time is considered to be worth by someone else.  I don't know about all of you out there who read this, but I for one am not prepared to accept 30% less for my daily work - why should we expect - and in some instances demand that people creating, producing, selling and servicing our watches accept 30% less?

This is not to say that I feel that all watches are RATIONALLY priced.  RATIONAL and FAIR are two different things.  FAIR is only an issue when we talk about essentials.  We can live without a nice watch, but we can't live without clean drinking water, or heat in the winter.

I for one am glad that there are high level artisans like Roger Smith and Stepan Sarpaneva out there.  I don't think we really question their work or their prices.  But I am also glad that there are brands out there that are truly making sure that "Yes, it's local" as much as they possibly can.  There is a reason why a 100% certified organic chicken costs more than what you pay for a "factory bird" at Walmart when they "roll back" the prices.  And there's a reason why a well made, small production watch costs more than something mass produced.  

A Few Minutes with Thomas Morf

And now, a Few Minutes with Thomas Morf -

James:  What was your first watch, was it a gift?  Is there a story behind it?

Thomas Morf:  My first watch was a gift from my godmother. It was a 3 hand, hand wound Uranus watch with a  purple dial and leather strap.


JH:  When you were a boy, what did you want to be "when you grew up"?

TM:  I always wanted to be surrounded by cars. Cars had something magic, the designs, the  technologies, the performance. So it was clear, that it had to be something with cars.


JH:  Where did you go to school?

TM:  All of my education has been in Switzerland, from primary to secondary school, the school of commerce and my degree in business administration.

JH:  So as your first love was the automobile, what got you into the watch business in the first place? 

TM:  Switzerland does not really have an automotive industry like other countries, 
but we have something similar - the watch industry.  I always had a great passion for watches too.  Especially those watches which were linked to aviation or motor sports. So it became of hobby of mine and I decided to move into the business in 1993.  Watches and cars have always had strong ties to each other.


JH:  So as a lover of cars, what is your "daily driver"?

TM:  My daily driver is a Mercedes E-Class Station Wagon, comfortable yet sporty.


JH:  What was your first job in the watch industry?

TM:  I was a sales & marketing manager with a very little watch brand.


JH:  Of all the watches you have been involved with, what is your "baby"?  What is the one that you feel the strongest attachment to?  Why?

TM:  Those that I like the most are the watches that have something "Thomas Morf"  within them. The company I was with before had some models containing that element. For me, it’s often all about the technology. I’m a tech freak. I just can’t deny that.


JH:  Who else out there is making watches that interest you?

TM:  For me it’s not necessarily a particular brand that interests me, but it is something more that I like from a design and technical point of view. Who the brand is doesn’t really play as important a role for me.  I’d rather have something special on my wrist rather than something that every Tom, Dick or Harry is wearing.


JH:  If you weren't doing this, what do you think you might be doing?

TM:  This is something I keep on asking myself all the time. What I definitely know is this - it’s got to be something with passion, something that touches my soul. The music and the automotive industry would fit into this category.


JH:  What is a typical "day in the life" of Thomas Morf?

TM:  A typical Thomas Morf day is not something very spectacular. I get up in the morning, take a shower, eat breakfast, drive to work, work the whole day long, then drive back home, maybe play some sports, get together with friends, talk about god and the whole world!


JH:  What do you like to do in your down-time? 

TM:  I love reading, listening to music,  and going to concerts.  Talking about cars with my buddies, and playing sports.  And of course I like a nice dinner with a fine wine with my crowd of friends.

JH:  So from Carl F. Bucherer to Hanhart and now a part owner of Hanhart - that is quite a jump!  What are some of the greatest challenges that you see?

TM:  Hanhart is a fantastic challenge.  There is a need to spend our money wisely, to get the most mileage for the dollar. The development of new products, marketing in a smart way, without wasting money, and overall the qualitative and quantitative growth of our global presence.  These are the 

real challenges in the months and years to come.  And all of our efforts are directed with one goal in mind - “Desirability is more important than awareness”.

JH:  Obviously these are two very different companies.  What is it in Hanhart that attracted you?

TM:  Hanhart is a watch brand, that has a fantastic and uninterrupted history. Hanhart has always covered the elements so to speak - air, land, and sea. We’re talking about fantastic Pilot’s watches, Race/Driver's watches and Marine watches!  This is something no other brand can offer. I always liked Hanhart, because of their expertise and know-how. It’s a brand that men seem to like and even adore. Steve McQueen, for instance, was big Hanhart fan.

JH:  You had been with Carl F. Bucherer for quite a few years and suddenly not.  Any regrets?

TM:  You know life moves on, It was a great experience during the last 10 years, but with Hanhart and my partial ownership of the company a new chapter in my life has begun.  A guy once told me the reason why a windshield is bigger than the rear view mirrors of a car. Because one needs to look forward and not backward.

JH:  Frank Lloyd Wright had a similar saying - he had removed the rear screen / glass from his car and asked why he said - "I never look back".

JH:  Hanhart is now sponsoring the Berne ice hockey team.  How did that come about?

TM:  Hanhart stands for performance, achievement and success and above all, it is made for real men. The Swiss ice hockey champions, Berne, liked Hanhart’s brand values. It’s a perfect match - Hanhart paired with a very strong hockey team. 

JH:  Where do you see Hanhart expanding?  Which countries do you think have the most opportunity for you?

TM:  I see Hanhart expanding in various markets around the world, especially where people like these kinds of highly functional instrument watches.  Highly functional, yet very sexy. Markets that have an appreciation for the history and origin of a brand like Hanhart.

JH:  So what advice do you have for the next generation of watch entrepreneur/CEOs?

TM:  Have a vision for the brand, have passion for the industry, be humble and patient, nothing is going to change overnight!   Always be a fair partner - to both your employees and your business partners.


Visit Hanhart at:  www.hanhart.com

And please visit the Berne Ice Hockey team at:

www.scb.ch